Amid pushback from city council members and the public, Houston Mayor John Whitmire sent a proposed ordinance dealing with protestors back to a city council committee for reconsideration.
Whitmire’s proposed ordinance would ban protests within 200 feet of private dwellings.
After several months of anti-Israel protests outside of his home, Whitmire said Wednesday, “Because of my declaration that I was going to take care of city business and not foreign affairs, the attention was turned towards me. I’m fine, but my neighbors aren’t; the children, the seniors in my neighborhood, are not fine to hear drums [and] bullhorns exceeding the sound ordinance at 11:30 at night.”
He also claimed that the protestors are “paid by Iran.”
“There is intelligence reports, and I’m not going to go through it in public, that they are being paid by Iran,” Whitmire said, according to Houston Public Media.
He added, “It’s dangerous if it’s true, and I think I have a duty to protect all the neighborhoods of Houston.”
A spokesperson for Whitmire stated that Houston’s Homeland Security briefed the mayor about the protestors.
The city council had mixed reactions to the ordinance, with some like Julian Ramirez pushing to balance constitutional concerns with practical ones. Councilmember Tiffany Thomas said, “Jim Crow may be abolished, but James Crow Esquire is alive and well.” Councilmembers Ed Pollard and Leticia Plummer, whose grandparents both were activists in the Civil Rights Movement, pushed back as well.
According to City Attorney Arturo Michel, concerns about it being unconstitutional are inaccurate because it did not target certain classes of protestors, rather blanketing everyone, and they modeled it after a similar ordinance in Dallas. Protestors have testified for two weeks, arguing it was unconstitutional and unjust.
Pollard said he wasn’t sure why it was necessary when the city could default to laws currently on the books, like the sound limitation ordinance, rioting, disturbing the peace, or others; but Whitmire said the groups of protestors had attorneys and were professional. “They’ll dispute it, but they are professionals; we actually know who’s paying them.”
The mayor asked for the item to be referred to the Public Safety Committee for further input from the public before council consideration and approval.
In addition to the mayor’s house, protestors have targeted the home of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), using whistles, cowbells, chanting, and have been harassing his family.
“For the past 6 months, anti-Israel protestors have come to my home just about every Sat morning at 7 am and most Fri nights until 10 or 11 pm,” Cruz wrote on X in June.
“They scream, disturb the peace & wake the neighbors. No matter how much these antisemites cheer Hamas, I will stand with Israel,” he added.
This past spring, anti-Israel protestors also caused havoc at college campuses, including UT-Austin. Yet, 79 demonstrators arrested for attempting to establish an illegal encampment faced no criminal prosecution.
Texas Scorecard reported in July that U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-11) introduced legislation to withhold federal aid from students convicted of riots or violence during anti-Israel demonstrations.
